The Haunted Mansion
by Miyori999
Summary: Rinne gets a concerning request. Someone has been hurt by something haunting their new house. It's up to Rinne to make sure it doesn't happen again. But can that be done with Sakura insisting on tagging along? Inspired by Volume 3 of Inuyasha.
1. A Letter of Request

This is the fist story I have ever written for Kyoukai no Rinne, and the first story I've ever put on the internet. This story was kinda inspired by the Anime "Ghost Hunt" as well as an Inuyasha Fanfic I read recently, that I absolutely loved. I hope I can get closer to her writing style in later chapters.

Rumiko Takahashi owns everything.

Hope you enjoy reading! I enjoyed writing it.

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The Haunted Mansion 

A Kyoukai no Rinne story

Chapter One: A Letter of Request

With school over Rinne slipped on his haori and stretched as he made his way to the weather hutch. He had miraculously passed another history exam. He never felt he actually _accomplished _anything in school, but he was not failing his classes, that meant he was doing something right. Perhaps he would feel better if he had attended the first month of school… He decided to forget about that, it has his grandmother's fault anyway.

It was a hard life for him. He not only had to deal with his Shinigami duties; assisting the deceased make their way to the wheel of reincarnation, eliminating curses where necessary, and purifying evil spirits, but also had to deal with the stress of high school. Neither was fun, but both were necessary.

When he opened the front of the little hutch, he was surprised to find absolutely no letters of request or offerings for his service. He sighed, closed the hatch, and resigned himself to the fact that tonight he was going hungry.*1) Just as he was about to walk away, he heard a voice from behind him.

"It's stuck in the grass. I'll have to leave you here," said a young man in black slacks and a white dress shirt pushing a young girl in a wheelchair.

Neither one was a student at the high school. Rinne noticed a letter and a box of cookies in the girl's hands. '_Perhaps I won't go hungry tonight after all.' _He thought to himself.

The girl sighed and adjusted her position in the seat.

"Brother, are you sure this is going to work?"

"Suzuko, its better than not doing anything. Kazuaki thinks it's our last option." The young man cast his eyes downward.

Suzuko grimaced and handed the letter to her older brother. He made his way past Rinne, not that he could see him, and opened the small door to deliver the letter. Rinne, noting that the man had forgotten the cookies tapped the sign next to him so that it made a small 'thunk'. The man looked at the sign in a surprised sort of way. Then he read it and rolled his eyes. "Signed _The Shinigami_," he muttered, reading the last line of the sign aloud.

Sakura had chosen this time to appear, coming around the garden fence. The man was just picking up the cookies when his sister shook her head and asked, "What kind of Shinigami asks for offerings? And specifically offerings of food? I don't get it."

Sakura happened to hear this, glanced at Rokudo-kun, and shook her head. She knew he had to "make a living" but she had never liked the idea of making up some phony legend to get business. She scanned over to the two people talking. They did not appear to be from the school, so why were they here?

She observed the man deposit the cookies then face around to go back to the young girl. He noticed Sakura standing there and nervously half waved to her, "uh…good afternoon…" '_I must look like an idiot delivering mail to a weather hutch,_' he thought.

She half waved back as he turned the girl around and rolled her past Sakura. When he was out of sight, she looked back at Rokudo-kun who was already in the process of devouring the cookies. She walked over to the redheaded boy.

"What are you doing?" she asked as the boy plopped himself down on the curb setting the box of gingersnaps beside him.*2)

He wiped crumbs off his lip and replied bluntly, "I'm eating…" Then he turned the letter over in his hands before skillfully tearing it open. "And now I'll be reading this letter"

She sighed and sat next to her redheaded classmate on the curb. He unfolded the letter while holding another cookie in his lips. She heard a small 'hn' from him as he was reading. He munched on another cookie while he turned to the second page. The writing was neat but quite large taking up the whole page with a couple paragraphs.

_For the weather hutch shinigami,_

_My siblings and I have recently inherited an estate with my great uncle's passing. This house was said to have terrible things happen within it, but my younger brother, being a skeptic, convinced me they were just rumors. However, the same night we tried to move in, our little sister was hurt. _

_A weapons case, too heavy to topple on its own or even by being bumped into, had been __**pushed over **__on her. It took all our combined strength for my brother and I to get it off her. Then things began to fly about the room. We got out of the house, but my sister's leg is broken and her opposite kneecap is cracked. We have hired exorcists, but they can't do a thing._

_I have been doing research on the house since then, while my sister was at the hospital and my brother and I were at a hotel. What I've found is that no one has been at the house for more than a year… and lived… _

_I've also been doing research on this weather hutch "legend" and I know that a young girl and occasionally a young boy are observed at the scene where the rumors of curses and ghosts that are taken care of are. For that purpose, I have printed out a map to the house. Please meet me there at noon tomorrow. I promise I have not told anyone other than my siblings about that finding, nor will I._

_This house is the only tie we have to the rest of our family._

_-The Hanasashi family_

He read that last paragraph and immediately focused his eyes on Sakura. Now she was tied up in this situation. Why did she always wind up in the dangerous situations that made up the whole of Rinne's life? While trying to figure out how to rectify both situations, Sakura's and the Hanasashi family's, he lost his focus on the hazel eyed girl and absentmindedly laid the paper down beside him, where she picked it up.

This situation sounded very strange to him Rinne. This case of a haunting was actually taking lives. He could not help but smell something **even more sinister **than the letter foretold.

"I guess we have work tomorrow," Sakura said aloud after finishing the letter.

"Indeed." It took a second for her words to actually click in his mind. "W-wait! What? _We? _You weren't supposed to read that." His scarlet eyes widened in shock.

"Well they did mention me, so it's expected that I come isn't it?" She shrugged completely ignoring the fact that he was put off by her intrusiveness, not just her assumption that she was coming along.

"I cannot allow you to put yourself in such a hazardous situation Mamiya-san! I apologize for all the times before when I dragged you with me, but for this I advise you to stay safe." His deep red eyes were entirely too serious.

'_There he goes again, being overly dramatic, poor guy barely knows how to smile, only how to fret,'_ she thought.

"It's not like I haven't seen this kind of thing before Rokudo-kun."

"That is my point, too often have you been in a precarious situation, without choice, but now since you _have_ a choice, you should _choose_ to stay home."

She rolled her hazel eyes and shook her head. "I've never gotten even a scratch, Rokudo-kun. I can make my own decisions. I'm coming."

Rinne scowled. He acquiesced with the fact that she was indeed a big girl and he could not stop her from making up her own mind. Even at this young age, there was no way a man could win an argument with a woman.

"Fine," he accepted the situation.

Sakura smiled. "Gives me something to do this weekend."

He considered that statement for a second. She was constantly out of the house while dealing with ghosts. He wondered for a second. "Don't your parents ever worry about you?"

She shot him a puzzled look. "um… No…"

_What kind of parents does she-_he started to think

"I have a cell phone Rokudo-kun. They don't worry too much." Sakura chuckled.

She had a cute laugh. Even a small chuckel was cute. '_But she's too serious. I almost never get to hear it.' _Rinne thought momentarily, before he realized he had started to blush slightly.

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**Authors note: **My first story on the internet, woohoo!

*1) I unfourtunatly can sympothise with Rinne's poorness, I am not from a well off family, but now we're earning enough to eat through the month and provide some entertainment (TV and internet)

*2) Gingersnaps are my second favorite kind of cookie (chocolate chip is the first, but that is too common)


	2. Solid

Again, my first story.

Rumiko Takahashi owns Kyoukai no Rinne.

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The Haunted Mansion

Chapter Two: Solid

She did not understand how her mother did it, but she did. There had been no report of any storm system on the weather news, and it had started out perfectly clear when she went to school that day. Her mother had warned her to bring an umbrella since she would not be coming straight home after half day school. She thought her mom was paranoid, but here she was standing at the back of her school waiting for Rokudo-kun, so they could go through the spirit way, and it had started to rain lightly. Not only that, but dark clouds heavy with rain hung threateningly out a ways. How is it that her mom knew? Sakura swore her mother could put the weatherman out of a job with just her instincts.

"Are you ready?" a male voice asked behind her, startling her out of her thoughts.

She jumped a bit and glanced at the boy behind her. Rokudo was standing there with a damp head of hair and his haori still sling over his shoulder. Damp tendrils of bright red hair hung in front of his eyes, but he did not seem to mind.

She would think he was in dire need of a haircut if she did not see him with dry hair un-weighted down with water every day. He had thick hair and it tended to fluff up a bit when it was dry.*1)

"Aren't you getting wet?"

"…Yeah, I think that's obvious."

Sakura blinked. Rokudo-kun had an annoyingly blunt attitude about him sometimes.

As if sensing her displeasure with his blunt statement he added, "It's just sprinkling, I don't mind too much." He ran a hand through his hair, fluffing it up a bit.

"Alright, I'm ready," she said putting down her umbrella.

Rokudo put on the haori of the underworld and grabbed her hand and lead her through the spirit way. His expression seemed a bit duller than usual, like he had something on his mind. Though, with his lack of normal variation in expressions it was hard for her to tell.

"Is there something bothering you Rokudo-kun?" she inquired.

"No," he lied.

The truth was something **was** bothering him. He had spoken to his grandmother the night prior about his upcoming job. She listened intently to her grandson's problem, up until a certain point, when she did something she rarely did; she lost her smile. He was not sure what he had said to make that happen, but he did remember what she told him, _'Be very careful, make sure you're never alone Rinne. At the very least take that Sakura-chan along. If you need any help at all, feel free to call me, I may not be able to perform Shinigami duties anymore but I can still get you out of a bad situation… Rinne? Are you listening to me?' _At that point he was rolling the words "bad situation" around in his head. _'Huh? Yes granny, I'm listening.' _That response earned him a noogie.

Why would his grandmother think he was getting into a "bad situation"? He had thought that himself at first, but had decided not much could be much worse than going up against a Devil, or Kain.

He still had a perturbing feeling. He felt like he should become more of a pessimist and set his standards for "good" really low, so that "bad" was not as terrible.

Sakura felt solid ground under her feel a moment later and immediately saw the landscape normalize. The rain had not yet reached this side of town yet. Standing facing away from them were two tall figures and another figure that appeared to be sitting down. They were all on the other side of a high fence.

"Umm… hello?" Sakura called to the three figures.

One turned around very quickly and Sakura saw that is was the same man from the day before dressed in a grey coat and black slacks.

"How did you get past us?" he asked, bearing an incredibly puzzled expression.

The second figure spun the third around to face her, who she now realized was the girl in the wheelchair. She was a tiny little thing, perhaps about 12 with curled black hair and a green sweater dress to match her cast, and a green umbrella in her lap.

The third figure turned to face them. A young man with glasses and dressed in all black minus his blue and grey scarf, who was obviously the oldest of the three siblings by a few years. He elbowed his brother before telling him "don't worry about the weird stuff, they're here to help."

He looked at Sakura and adjusted his glasses.

"What are you two here for?" He eyed Sakura suspiciously.

"Two?" She looked next to her to see that Rokudo had removed his haori and flung it over his shoulder. _'So he's okay with being visible this time' _she thought.

"Did you two just come from school? You're still wearing your uniforms," he pointed out.

"Uhh… Yeah we did. We got the letter so-"

"We're processing your request," Rinne interrupted. He still did not technically know what he was wanted to do. "We're here to aid the deceased in passing over to the next life, is that all you require?"

"I have the feeling it's not just regular dead people here," the young girl remarked crossing her arms and shivering. She knew only a tidbit of what lurked in that house.

"Ah. So you are the right guys. Well, I didn't really anticipate high school kids. What are you guys year ones? And you work with the Shinigami?"

"Yeah," was his answer to both questions.

"We should introduce ourselves. I'm Kazuaki, age 24. Legal Guardian of my two younger siblings. Masahiro, age 18, and Suzuko, age 13."

"And I already know you, Sakura. You're friends with Miho, my friend's cousin. She had a picture of you on her phone," said Suzuko.

She looked at Rinne. "And you're the kid with the freaky cool dye job everyone's talking about."

Rinne slumped. No one would ever believe this was his natural hair color. She did not even remember his name, just his hair description,

"Now that that is settled," said Kazuaki as he tossed a key wrapped in paper over the fence.

Rinne caught it without missing a beat. On the paper was a phone number.

"Kazu-" Masahiro began.

"Oh, come on, they won't steal anything." Kazuaki interrupted.

He looked at Rinne. "I still want to pay you though, if it does work out. How much?"

"Depends on the number of earth bound spirits are in this house this house."

"That is understandable. Call me whether it…works out or not,"

All three siblings looked despondent at that last comment. _Whether it works out or not._ The two men turned and rolled their sister to their car, got in and left.

It had never occurred to Sakura to look at the house behind her. When she did she forgot to breathe; it was the largest single family house she had ever seen. It must have had four stories to it, and it was twice as wide as it was tall. She did not know Tokyo had such large houses on the outskirts anymore. She lived in a nice neighborhood but many parts were very compact. She wondered briefly how such a small family could manage such a big house. That was before she noticed something else.

"Rokudo-kun, this doesn't feel right," she said as he unlocked the door.

The door swung open easily. Not the air of a haunting at all. If a house was violently haunted like the Hanasashi family had said, shouldn't there be ghosts floating around all over the place? She had never been frightened of ghosts, but she had a bad feeling about the seemingly lack there of. Even if this house were not haunted, there should be more _movement_ in this place.

Rinne did not say a word. The door opened up to an enormous living room, which indeed looked like the occupants had not fully moved in yet. Boxed were stacked about the room, but old fashioned furniture also decorated the room. No doubt more heirlooms left by the Hanasashi family's great uncle. Sakura stepped out from behind Rinne and peered up the staircase to their left.

"Attics and kitchens are where house haunting ghosts like to be right Rokudo-kun?" Sakura inquired still gazing up the stairs.

Rinne nodded and floated up the stairs. (He had since put his haori on.)

"You can check the kitchen. I'll get the attic; they're hiding around here somewhere."*2)

She nodded and made her way around a hallway, but a loud thud, followed by a groan caught her attention and made her turn on her heels. She ran back into the large main room to find Rokudo rising onto his elbow from his position on the floor. He sat up with his eyes clenched shut holding his left hand tightly to the top of his head.

"What happened?"

Rokudo did not respond immediately, but he opened his scarlet eyes to a look of mild shock. He gawked up at a particular spot on the ceiling. When he looked away his face showed a minor look of puzzlement. He rubbed his head and looked at Sakura before dropping his hand to his face, touching his knuckle to his chin and considering for a second.

"Spirits wouldn't be able to pass through the walls in this house. If there are truly spirits in this house… they are prisoners."

His red eyes glinted towards the wall suddenly. Both he and Sakura flinched when they heard a deep, raspy chuckle that ended in an almost indiscernible phrase:

"Heh heh heh heh…. Shinigami eh?"

* * *

**Authors note: **I have posted two chapters back-to-back because I have been very sick recently and had to stay in my room all day with nothing else to do. I do not think this will be the normal occurance unfourtunately.

I want to do oneshots just to get the numbers up for this poor neglected fandom, but I have no short Ideas right now. this is goin to be at least five chapters unfourtunately.

*1) My hair is about as long and thick as his hair appears to be. so I know from personal expirence, plus RT has got a fluffy quality to people's hair I gotta say.

*2) and basements... hint, hint...


	3. The Tunnel

I'm soooo sorry it took me this long to update! Here is a Rant you may want to skip...

I have been incredibly busy! I had planned to write some over my winter break, but then I had relitives coming over, which I had to sleep to recover from (I can't stand my cousins) I was forced to go Christmas shopping with my mother, then I had to work on my Haori for my Rinne Rokudo Cosplay for my spring anime convention, which I also had to recover from, (I suck at sewing especially when I have to use and actual sewing machine)... After which, before I knew it, I was in school again. And Now FINALS are coming up, which means twice the homework as usual starting a month before the final exams. I didn't know I was failing math, so I have been staying after school for extra help... Good dear lord, I can't wait for all this to be over.

On a good note, my Birthday is in 2 days. Though I don't know why that's a thing to be happy about, I'm turning old this year, and I don't get any presents. Though a carrot cake with extra extra extra walnuts (my favorite) I will get. I guess I'm happy.

Yeah I myself like to skip the author's intro and explanations at the top, so I don't blame people for not reading. Though I have to admit, the ones at the bottmon are usually kinda neat.

SOooo... holidays suck, school sucks during finals prep, and my birthday is coming up YAY!

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Chapter Three: The Tunnel 

Rinne immediately jumped up, standing in front of Sakura, red eyes flickering around the room, searching for the source of the forbidding rasp.

"I've never dealt with one of those before…" the voice rumbled as it faded away.

"Wait, why-" Sakura started but Rinne glanced back at her shaking his head.

"It won't be answering any of our questions."

...

"So, what now?" Sakura said as she blankly stared at Rokudo, who was in the process of shaking out his haori of all his Shinigami tools. A haori had no pockets, nor was it big enough to hide some of his items, but with Rokudo, who cares about rational thought or the confines of the laws of physics. He picked up his scythe and tapped it against his shoulder. *1)

"Well," he started, looking at the young girl across from him, who seemed unusually calm now, when she hadn't before they heard that ominous hiss. "I thought I would need this. " He paused and squinted at Sakura. "Why are you so calm Sakura Mamiya? You seemed nervous earlier…but not now?"

She shrugged and shook her head. "I just felt like something was building up earlier, but now that **something did **happen I feel better, knowing that's what I was feeling."

Rinne was perplexed. Was there something wrong with the girl? Whatever happened to her instincts to run from danger? After a disembodied voice was heard, wouldn't any other being feel frightened and want nothing more than to get away from Rinne and all this weirdness? Though, Rinne supposed, all this weirdness had become second nature, so it would be normal for her to ignore all the abnormalities around her.

"You truly are an unusual person, Sakura Mamiya."

Rinne sighed. This was not a time for any type of stalling, or dwelling on the abnormalities that made up, again, the whole of his existence. There was evil afoot, no doubt an evil spirit was making this house their dwelling, dragging under all of whom were attempting to make this their home.*2)

The tiny meter in Rinne's hands was flicking slightly towards the 'You're getting warmer' portion of the obscure little scale. Shinigami devices were often odd looking, almost items that appeared to have simply been repurposed **for the purpose **of assisting the Shinigami. This meter worked to identify a spiritual aura when the spirit was hiding his form. The meter's scale was marked in a way that seemed childish. These sorts of devices were in fact designed for Shinigami children, who were inexperienced (though this particular one was free from a Shinigami equipment course, usually they handed out pencils and bottles, so for Rinne this was a good snag). The reason Rinne was forced to use the devices was because of his mixed heritage. He could still perform Shinigami duties, but he required more tools.

As he passed an unassuming wooden door the needle on the meter jumped suddenly.

Sakura noticed this and set her hand on the doorknob to open it. Rinne nodded at her to continue.

The door led into complete darkness thickly enveloping all that the two teens might lay their eyes upon. Sakura felt for a light switch, thankful when she found it that such an old styled house had them in every room…

The speed of light is too quick for any eye to catch. Flip a switch and you will not see the darkness recede from the source of light. The speed of light is the quickest thing we can even fathom, and even so, it remains much too difficult to comprehend for most. If you can not see it, how can you believe something like the movement of light particles ever possibly exist? And yet, did the two high-schoolers not see, in the millisecond that their eye could barely catch, how the darkness seemed to slither in snake-like tendrils away from the light?

Sakura blinked. Her face did not exhibit any fear, and neither did Rokudo's; they were quite used to the strange. She looked down into the newly lit hall that led to an old flight of stairs with greying old wood.

"A basement." Rokudo stated oddly.

Sakura stared at the red-haired boy. "Stating the obvious?" She glanced back down the stairs, before Rokudo stepped past her into the hallway.

The stairs led into a perfectly square room stacked high with shelves and boxes. The basement room had abnormally high walls; the ceiling was a meter over Rinne's head. The aura meter was flickering between "warm" and "body temperature" (again, being a device from the Shinigami world, it seemed a bit odd and Rinne was certain that this prototype would be rejected and tweaked in the upcoming years). *3) He still felt nothing of a true ghostly aura; something strange he didn't wholly understand, but there was still something definitely going on.

The problem was the meter's reading did not change no matter where he walked within the square room.

"That's strange," he said mostly to himself.

Sakura heard and inquired about what he meant. He merely showed her the meter.

"It doesn't move at all? And I don't feel any sort of presence." She thought for a moment. A light bulb flickered on in her head, inspired by a poem she had read in junior high.

"An old basement in a haunted house, beneath which lies a hungry mouse, beneath the-"

"What are you talking about Sakura Mamiya? What does a mouse have to do with anything?" Rinne was genuinely confused about the girl's random tangent of speech.

"A poem, uh, the floorboards…"

"What?" Rinne glanced aimlessly over the floor beneath his feet. What madness was such a smart girl spouting?

Then, the girl stamped her foot on the floor.

Rinne finally understood what point she was making in a round-about sort of way. The wooden floor was covered by a dirty grey rug, but it did nothing to diminish the hallow sound beneath her foot.

"Sakura Mamiya, there you have it!"

Rinne got down and immediately flipped the rug over, exposing the trap door beneath it. He pulled on the metal ring attempting to open the resisting door. He struggled against it, pulling the darned thing towards his body. It popped open with a loud '_CRACK!' _which left him sitting on the floor beside the opening, that again, stared down into darkness. It was far too dark for him to see. The darkness remained thick, as no light could reach into the rectangular hole in the floor.

A dank, moldy smell reached his nostrils, forcing him to cringe. He could not see a thing into the dark, imperceptibly fusty, abyss. He suddenly noticed tendrils of darkness receding from his view and started, instantly shuffling slightly away from the hole. He looked up above him when he heard his name.

"Rokudo-kun?" The lovely hazel eyed girl asked tilting her head slightly.

She held in her hand a kerosene lantern, and in the other a large box of matches. Realizing how much of an idiot he'd made of himself in front of the girl, he began to speak bluntly; it was his natural way of defending himself from embarrassment.

"Why did you do that?" _Like that's gonna make me look like __**less**__ of an idiot._ He thought angrily at himself.

"I know your eyes can't possibly work any better than mine." She shook the box of matches, and shook off the normalcy that was Rokudo's mildly annoyed expression. (She had noticed the lantern on the shelf below her knee and the matches on the shelf at eye level.) She peered down into the square opening. She couldn't see much, just the narrow ladder leading down and a patch of stone floor below. She set down the kerosene lantern and climbed down the ladder all the while ignoring Rokudo's plea that he should go down first, for her safety.

The instant her feet touched the ground, she was immediately swamped with a horrible feeling of evil. A strong evil aura, from a great evil being.

Rinne slid down the metal ladder to the second rung from the ground. He noticed Sakura stood as if her shoes were nailed in place. He lifted up the lantern and shone light on Sakura, who didn't even flinch.

"You don't feel that?" Sakura asked not even turning her head to face Rokudo.

"Feel wh-," Rinne stopped mid-sentence, as his own feet touched the stone floor.

He realized what it was the held Sakura in place. He doubted that she was frightened, but any person would succumb to the thick mass of evil.

A loud sound was heard. Both teens squinted into the darkness at the noise that was indeterminate as to whether it was a creature's scream or roar, or some sort of metallic weight clashing against a brick wall. If anything it sounded like a tin-roofed building full of tigers collapsing.

A much shriller sound caught Rinne's ears through all the others. His ears were trained for the sounds of spirits that were in trouble. He snatched up Sakura's hand, dragging her up from her spot on the stone pathway, and dragging her with him towards the source of the sounds.

Sakura watched with interest as Rokudo's face showed the determination he was feeling toward finding the source of this portentous sound that reverberated throughout the tunnel. She saw that his gaze never wandered from right in front of him, right in the direction of the distressing sound. She pondered for a second if she had ever met someone with more persistence and power of mind. Tsubasa came to mind, but that was just in his determination to get a date with her.

Rinne rounded a corner just as the obscure noise died down. He continued on in that direction, down through the twists and turns the tunnel went down, his lantern leading the way. He had noticed that Sakura had not flinched against his hand, or struggled against being lifted off the ground. '_She's getting far too used to this,'_ he thought. He did care for her safety, but the girl was just **always **getting mixed up with him.

The angry, ominous presence became imperceptible in the time it took for Rinne to make this observation. He slowed his pace and tried to re-confirm his directions. He strained his ears, and his sixth sense for the direction he should go for this task. He had the meter with him, but would rather realy on his current senses. He heard now a much softer sound, which sounded like it was just around another right turn.

"Is that… someone crying?" Sakura clutched her right hand onto his arm, while the other still held to his right hand.

He set her down on the ground, not noticing how his body hated to relinquish the pleasant warmth of Sakura's tiny hand in his own.

The girl's perfectly coloured hazel eyes looked concerned, obviously not for her own safety (for she seemed to have no sense of self preservation), but for whatever sort of being that felt so sorrowful.

When he looked at her, the boy's own blood coloured eyes; which were a darker shade now that the light was lowered, couldn't help but reflect a paler shadow of the same, as he peered into the girl's large beautiful depths. He nodded, but put a finger softly to his lips in the silent gesture of _shhh…_

They cornered to see a small shape 15 meters away. The pair of teens glanced at one another before closing in on the quivering shape.

As soon as the light reached to shape, Sakura saw that it was a young girl. She sat against the wall with her knees pulled up against her body and her face in her hands, sobbing softly, just loud enough to be heard. She was obviously a ghost, but did not seem to be the source of the ominous aura.

Sakura reached out her hand to the young girl. "Are you alright?" she spoke softly so that it would not startle the poor thing.

Even with Sakura's caution in her soft manner of speaking, the girl startled and leapt to her feet. Her eyes shown the most terrible fear, and that compiled with the tear streaks on her cheeks, the horrible dark stains down the front of her purple kimono that was most certainly blood, and the stringy dishevelled hair falling over her face, hers was an awful sight.*4)

"Why are you here!" She screamed in the shrillest voice possible.

Rinne pushed Sakura behind himself; he needed to protect her should this spirit react in a way they would regret. He backed up, and Sakura was forced further back behind him. Sakura realized what he was doing, which irked her a teensy bit, but kept most of her focus on the ghost in front of them.

The ghost's gaze softened only enough to look more trustworthy and not so explosive. Her gaze remained wide as she shook her head.

"You should not be here! Please leave… this place."

"Why do you want us to leave?" Rinne said in his much calmer voice, the soft understanding tone he had perfected for dealing with spirits.

"It is because…because I cannot hold _**it**_ here much longer." Her tone was pleading as were her eyes as more tears fell to her cheeks. She cringed once, closing her eyes in what appeared to b pain.

"Cannot hold what here?" Rinne eased his stance, coming part-way down to her eyelevel.

Her gaze never wavered from Rinne's face, though she wrung her hands within the stained sleeves of her kimono.

"The Demon."

* * *

**Authors Note:**

I may be well... not very good at this (my english teacher would kill me for that sentence) But whenever I refer to Rinne by his given name, It is HIS thoughts and feelings, and whenever I use his surname, it is Sakura's thoughts and feelings.

*1) Seriously... Okay, he's got two pockets that are NOT big enough for all the Shinigami crap he has. Sometimes Rokumon brings him tools like his scythe, but sometimes Rinne pulls it out of his Haori or the item just randomly comes into existance.

*2) He had gotten his scythe out, to make sure he had it... then he put it away away before the whole meter thing? I didn't plan that out well, but I just Love his scythe.

*3) it took me half an hour to remember the word "Prototype" I knew what it was, but it was just on the tip of my (fingertips). I finally had to ask my mom what the word was in terms of airplanes, but just about 1/2 a second after I asked I remembered the word. I had the teacher's desk syndrome, (where you get up to ask them a question, but the instant you touch their desk you remember the answer)

*4) I picture the girl from "The Grudge" (I've never seen the movie, but I have seen the promo poster at the theater)


	4. Cannibal Yuiko's story

I know this is definately not my best chapter, I thought It would get better as I went along, but unfortunately I think all my testing sapped any artistic ability I had left... I can't draw either... If you were to check out my profile you'd see that I love to draw, but it all truns out badly this week. I made the deadline I set for myself at least... Saturday, Sunday, or Monday the I told one reader. I mostly went on and on about this girl's experience, and I appolgize for that I really wish I could have added a moment between R&S but...If I ever can GET TO THE POINT, there will be some cute moments between the couple...

I tend to drag things out... it like pulling teeth I swear...But I know this chapter will turn off a lot of people to this story, but I SWEAR! THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS WILL eventually have some sweet moments between Rinne and Sakura.

Rumiko Takahashi owns everything.

* * *

Chapter 4: Cannibal (Yuiko's story)

"Okay that'll give you a ten minute break," said Rinne backing away from the newly established barrier.

The young girl gave the Shinigami a sad glance and returned to staring at her bloodied knees.

"Perhaps it is not a demon?" she mumbled quietly.

"There are all different types of demon, youkai, oni, too many to list, what kind did you think it was at first?" Sakura asked obscurely.

Rinne allowed Sakura time to speak, but shot her a look that told her that she needed to get to the point. They needed to know how the evil presence came to be, so that it could be taken care of. Rinne was not exceptionally careless; he'd first like to know what he was up against.

"I-I was… never quite sure, I was just 12. I had not learned that much of the world yet. Though my sister was only four years my senior, and happily married."

"So you're not sure? Then do you know how such a spirit came to be?" Rinne interjected just as Sakura opened her mouth to speak. She politely nodded remembering their time constraints.

"Yes, I remember most of it quite well… leading up to the day I died," she said looking up at the wall above her seated position.

"I don't recall the year, but it was just after my sister had been married into the Hanasashi family."

Sakura shared a knowing glance with Rinne.

"_Yuiko was the second oldest of five girls and a boy. She lived with her father, and life was good. Her father had always been the generous sort of man, the family's large home had extra rooms and they were always open to travelers. _

_One day, a group of men, Christian missionaries in fact, needed shelter from the rain, so they came to ask if they had any rooms. Yuiko's father offered them the two rooms in the back and a good meal. There were four of them. The first three that Yuiko saw were jolly looking old men. The oldest, near his sixties had the most unusual look about him, with dark hair striped with grey and the strangest green eyes. He must have been of western decent, but he joked with the other two men and Yuiko's father and made all the younger children laugh with his telling of being stuck by the kimono on a tree limb. He seemed kindly enough. All of the three men did._

_The fourth did not eat that night with the rest of his party or the host family. Yuiko did not even know he was there until he came in from the covered area outside. She was picking up the trays while her father put my younger youngest siblings to bed. The fourth man stepped into the doorway and Yuiko could feel the air ice over. The young girl turned to look at him and there was just something entirely… malevolent about his demeanour. His eyes and hair were entirely black and empty in a way you could only imagine a demon being. _

_She did not wish to be rude by glaring; her mother had raised her better than that, so she simply left the room to clear the trays. The men would be leaving tomorrow morning when the rain had subsided. The man watched the girl leave the room. She left tensely, feeling that his eyes never left her. The girl was wrong about his intentions however… _

_Later that night after all the men had retired to their rooms the girl finally spoke to her father about the strange guest. 'Father… have you noticed something strange about our guests?' Her father shook his head, 'Yuiko, you should not judge people like that. The old man is from another country, nothing to be feared or cause fowl judgement against.' Yuiko grit her teeth. 'He is not the one I was concerned with…I meant our youngest guest. The one with black eyes.' Her father shot her a puzzled look. 'Yes? What are you concerned about?' Yuiko fiddled with her sleeves. 'Have you heard him utter a single word?'_

_Her father laughed, which made Yuiko very confused. He shook his head and put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. 'Not everyone is as talkative as you. Yuiko, not everyone is inclined to speak constantly in the presence of others.' Yuiko felt lighter about the subject. 'I do not father! I speak as others should. The people of this place are just too quiet.' He smiled. _

_Her father patted her head. 'You can sleep in here if you would like.' She shook her head to decline the offer. 'The twins wake up hours before dawn; I would rather like my sleep.' The girl's father bowed his head and pulled the covers up further on his youngest children's torsos (the three year old girls had kicked around in their sleep)._

_She proceeded back to the room she shared with her closest sibling in birth order at age eight. She fell asleep that night but stirred to her sister walking out of the room. _

'_Where are you going?'_

_Her sister bounced slightly. 'I need to use the toilet. Can I go please?'_

_Yuiko sighed and waved her sister away. She rested her head on the pillow again. She had always been a dreadfully light sleeper._

_She was disturbed from slumber again by some shuffling outside the sliding door. Assuming it was just her sister returning she rolled her eyes. Then she noticed how light it was in the room. It was nearly dawn. What had taken her sister so long? _

_Yuiko realized those footfalls were not those of a tiny eight year old. _

"_Who is that there?" She called in an exceedingly shrill voice._

_She saw just then, how a shadow was framed against the door. Not the shadow of a little girl. It had been passing slowly, but the moment she called out. It had stopped mid-step. It reached out to open the door and Yuiko instinctively jumped up to defend herself. Her eyes widened as the door slowly slid open revealing more of the figure. _

_The black eyed man stood before her saying nothing. He held a blade in one hand and something else occupied the other. She glared at him. She attempted to put all the anger she had into that glare. There was absolutely no reason for him to open her door. He never blinked as he spoke the words 'I had nearly forgotten about you.' _

_He took a step towards her. She held her ground. 'What are you doing in my room?' She spat with all the venom she could muster. The man just stared on with his soulless black eyes. Her body began to tremble; this man frightened her to the core. He took one more step snapping a comb. Yuiko looked at the comb as it crunched beneath his foot. It was her sister's that the little girl often carelessly left about. Her sister…_

'_Where is my sister?'_

_The man's emotionless, almost lifeless face transformed drastically before the girl's eyes. His face became that of what could only truly be described as a demon's. His lips turned upward in a grotesque grin. His mouth spread wider than Yuiko had ever thought possible._

'_**FATHER!**__' Her scream echoed through the house, but the black eyed man merely flinched from the shrillness of Yuiko's tone._

'_Now that was loud… why do you scream like that? There is no one left to hear you,' he tilted his head to one side._

_She trembled uncontrollably now. She understood the meaning of his words, and in the gaining light she saw the dark stains that covered his blade, his hands and his face, yet she still asked 'What do you mean by that?..'_

'_Do you know what this is?' he held out the hand without the sword. His hand was covered in the dark sticky liquid, and within his palm was something of the same shade._

'_Y-you, your companions too?' She took her first step back._

_The man merely nodded but continued saying 'Some say they like them cooked, but I beg to differ. Cheeks lose something when they're cooked.'_

_Yuiko's heart seemed to stop. _

'_The more delicate is my favourite, so I was going to save this one's for later, but since I already had the other… you're a pretty little thing. Would you like for me to share?'_

_She couldn't even scream._

'_No? Well I suppose it will go bad if I wait too long.' He ate the lump of flesh out of his hand. He wiped his mouth._

'_I really am a glutton, I'm still hungry.' he leapt forward and tackled the girl catching her in the chest with the small sword. She caught her fist across his nose painfully breaking it. He accidentally dropped the blade when he had reached up to feel his nose. The girl used her last bit of strength to grip the sword and ram it through his temple, killing him."_

"I died then," the girl spoke softly.

"Do you have any desire to pass on?" Rinne asked softly.

The ghost rubbed her eyes. "Of course I do. I cannot stand this place."

"Your lingering attachment is to keep him locked up here, to prevent him from hurting more people?" Rinne asked calmly and pointedly.

"Yes." She nodded and glanced up at the older boy.

"So the only way for you to pass on is for us to get rid of that monster?" Sakura said more to herself than to the girl.

Rinne inwardly grimaced at the use of the word 'us' in that sentence. This 'demon' was a man who managed to carry his malice through the grave, where it only built up over centuries, surely he had changed into some form that was not even remotely a human spirit any longer… and Sakura Mamiya still wanted to help?

"Can that be done? I cannot even contain it fully and yet you claim to be able to dispose of it?" The girl's face was confused, but for a moment she seemed to light up with hope.

"Not exactly 'dispose' of him, but yes, he'll never be able to harm or influence any being, living or otherwise again."

The girl got up floating a bit above the ground. "You really can? Oh, I thank you. Is there anything I have to do?"

"Could you tell me what _**exactly **_this thing is capable of?"

* * *

I'm too lazy to put an authors note right now.


	5. Starting

RANDOM RANT

As it turns out, my power did go out because of the winter storm. I was on my computer when my power went out, and I lost all that I had written that night. I got so frustrated, because I had my essay for class the next day on another tab that remained unsaved. I just didn't write anything else after that. I still haven't turned in my essay haha. I feel like a bad person, but I was just so angry that both my story and my essay got deleted. I learned my lesson though, now I have the autosave set for 10 minutes and I save stories to my E-mail too, so that I can find them on my friend's computer when I go to her house. (Which is a lot)

I like this chapter better than the last, because I actually HATE OC's, but I merely had no other ideas when I wrote chapter 4. It's poorly written, but I just feel I've gotten a bit further with the plot (Finally) I didn't let it sit for a few days then edit it like usual, because I just haven't had the enthusiasm to write until now.

I was inspired by Inuyasha Volume 3, especially for this and the next chapter.

Okey dokey smokey, enjoy. Oh and I did use a bad word. I really hope you don't mind. Shortest chapter in a long while. I have very few Ideas right now.

**Chapter 5: Starting**

"As you likely know by now," the tiny girl began, "I… cannot always contain it. And every time…it gains power by hurting people."

Rinne nodded.

The young ghost lead the pair down the tunnel further. She winced slightly in pain just as a slight rumbling was heard. As the sound subsided the ghost's face became calm once more.

"What's wrong?" Sakura leaned past the red haired boy to see that the ghost's expression had returned to normal.

"As its strength gains, as it becomes more powerful, I weaken…"

"Is there only the one ghost or… monster here?" Sakura asked.

The ghost shook her head. "He lived by devouring his own, and remains unchanged in purpose."

Rinne's eyes flickered away from the girl for a moment. His mind was quick when it came to drawing unsavoury conclusions. The girl noticed the slight change in the redhead's demeanour, and quickly began to explain herself.

"I-I could not think of any other way. I thought it best. I could protect more innocents that way… do you think…did I make the wrong choice?"

The boy looked at the ghost. His expressions were unbearably hard for the ghost to read. He nodded finally "No, you did exactly the right thing."

In all honesty Rinne was surprised. This spirit had a kind of thought process that was incredibly rare, especially for one as young as she. The earth bound spirits he normally came into contact with were simple minded, as they were purely a mass of unsolved problems and of lingering emotions. They could only focus on the task they had felt most important in life. This one was odd. She could produce basic rationalities and had basic problem solving abilities. She was also incredibly powerful, keeping such a beast locked in a cavern, for who knows how many years, was no feat of the average spirit.

Sakura was following along as well as possible given so little information. She still had no idea what sort of silent understanding was going on between the ghost and Rokudo.

"This barrier she managed to put up," he began as if reading Sakura's mind "is the one keeping spirits locked within the house. Meaning everyone who has died here…" he trailed off, as a slight look of understanding washed over Sakura's face. "They can't leave?"

"I cannot let my concentration waver to allow them to save themselves. I have…" she paused to un-ball her fists. "I have a hard time keeping it within, and every time it has overcome me, even for a brief moment, something terrible has…." Her voice cracked on the last words.

"I'll take care of it. You don't have to worry. From here on out-"

"We'll handle everything." Sakura smiled brightly at the ghost, who reciprocated a slightly sadder version of the same smile.

A loud sound overtook the group suddenly. Again, the metal roof of the building of tigers was collapsing.

The ghost girl grasped her head in great pain. "I cannot get any closer! I fear my control will diminish completely; I need to remain at a safe distance. Can you continue on your own?" The sound ebbed away, though the spirit remained clutching her head in pain. "It is a large cavern; you will find it within the room. It may conceal its-rggh-form. Do be careful, soul ferrier."

…...

"I don't see anything."

Rinne nodded slowly, but his eyes darted about the room quickly searching for any sign of a presence, other than the overwhelming feel of iniquity. The place still smelled rank, and damp, which only seemed to put him more on edge.

That ungodly sound rang out yet again, this time close enough to make both teens fear for their hearing. Rinne clapped his hands over his ears, and in that second, he lost sight of the presence next to him…

Sakura squealed as something quickly twisted around her waist and yanked her across the cavern and away from Rinne.

Rinne quickly noticed her absence and spun around, caught sight of her, and instinctively dashed in her direction. He snatched her around the waist and sliced through whatever was grabbing her with his Shinigami scythe (which, again, had been pulled out of nowhere) all in the time it took for the lantern to smash against the ground from the height at which he had managed to cut the mass. The sound changed into an annoying buzzing suddenly, before halting altogether.

Sakura clung to his jacket and haori. Her heart pounding against her ribcage, she strained her eyes and was surprised to find that she could, in fact, see. A dim phosphorescent glow lit the cavern bathing all in a pale blue light. It made everything strangely visible, which the lantern had failed to do.

"Are you alright, Sakura Mamiya?" He whispered.

She didn't respond, but he took it for a yes anyway.

"I see you there. Why would you want to hurt Sakura Mamiya?"

She heard how stern his tone was and looked up to see Rokudo looking rather pissed off. His eye gaze was determined and angry as he looked across the cavern to where he had just been standing. She followed his eyes to where he was looking.

A depression had been made there, and now showed jaggedly cut stones. In the middle of which was a huge black mass and dozens of sparkling red glints. Suddenly a streak of red emerged on part of the mass.

"I haven't hurt her, have I?" The cavern seemed to rumble in a deep rasping voice.

Sakura watched the streak of red move as the words came into existence and realized that was supposed to be a mouth. It was remotely shaped like a mouth she supposed, but it still looked rather ambiguous in shape.

Sakura felt Rokudo's grip tighten across her waist. She looked at him for a brief second before the black shape moved. When it did so, Sakura got a better look at it. It had no definite shape and she was sure if not for the bluish tone of the light that it was the color of pale flesh. Her eyes were slowly adjusting to the blue light, and as that happened the mass became clearer and clearer. Its shape remained just as odd, but strange features on it became more noticeable.

Clumps of black tendrils, hair actually clung to its shape in the most alien way. On its body, sticking out in peculiar direction appeared to be limbs. She realized the limbs resembled human arms, but at the same time were very different and far too numerous to be even considered humanly. And the red glints… they were eyes…

She had never thought anything much of Rokudo's red eyes. They suited him. They did not seem unusual or frightening on him. He always had a sort of either determination, or kindness, or sadness, of focus, or… really they were often the only indication of emotion he had about him. They always looked pleasantly at her, when ever he spoke to her. Even when he seemed annoyed, his eyes remained pleasant and friendly. They were never intimidating. He had never looked at her in a way that made her want to shy away from his presence. She had never, never found red eyes intimidating.

But these eyes…these dozens of eyes… While they didn't frighten her, they did make her wish she was somewhere else.

She glanced to Rokudo again, as she kept doing. He eyes shone an aubergine color by the influence of the blue light. They showed something within them which seemed unusual to Sakura. _What is that emotion?_ She wondered. When did he show so much distaste for a spirit?

Rinne shifted his grip on her once more. He held her tightly, because he realized this spirit, this demon, as the girl had referred to it, held much more power within the wall of this cavern. While on the main floors, it could kill by pushing something over on someone, down here it killed by bodily force. The instant Sakura Mamiya had been removed from his side, he foresaw her body being flung against the wall, and his own crushed beneath the mass.

"Why do you remain in this world?" He asked again in his most commanding voice.

The mass let out a gurgling rasp, (if that can be described) which can only be assumed to be a laugh.

"What does anything have to do in this mess called home?"

Rinne blinked as his only show of annoyance, for he was still on his guard. "Why do you answer my questions with more questions?"

"Why do you ask so many questions, Shinigami?" The red streak changed into what must have been a much wider grin.

He narrowed his eyes. "We're **not **going to play this game."

The mass shifted. "No indeed."

In a split second a thick rope of grotesque flesh flew towards Rinne.

* * *

Author's note: I know it's not well written, so feel free to comment on the poor writing quality, I really have fallen into a writing slump.


	6. Evanescent

Finally, I finished my first multi-chapter, and by the way, evanescence is a fleeting memory or temporary and soon to be forgotten. I'll explain more at the end.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Evanescent **

Rinne easily avoided this, he knew enough about evil spirits to gage one's reaction. His response to it was slower than it should have been though, likely due to carrying both his scythe and the girl in his arms.

He sliced through the extended flesh, fully intent on purifying the spirit. This thing, however, felt much more solid than most.

There should have been a purplish light radiating from the cut, which would travel down the entire spirit, in which it would be purified, but Rinne was a little surprised to see that the severed flesh merely dropped off from the rest. One cut at any part should have purified the spirit.

The red-eyed youth's surprise must have shown on his face, because a rumbling cackle exuded from the grotesque bundle of flesh. Sakura knit her brows. With Rinne holding her, there was nothing she might be able to do.

"What is the matter?" The entire black mass sloshed forward, stretching out another of its limbs, which Rinne sliced out of the way. Another limb sprung up in front of him he stopped violently, which shook Sakura from his grasp. She squealed, and as he dived down to catch her arm the above limb viciously sideswiped the pair sending them flying in opposite directions and smashing up against the wall.

Sakura had screamed as she went flying, and while the scream was unable to echo, due to the density of the darkness, it was the only thing Rinne heard as he slid to the ground. His neck hurt, his head had been the first thing to hit the cave wall, but as he turned his scarlet eyes to the bisecting wall, he saw the girl lying on her side, pigtails in the dirt. The darkness seemed to pulse, and he felt something close in.

His throat suddenly felt tight. _Why did I allow her to come? I… I should have never… _

His throat felt tight now for a different reason. He felt himself lifted off the ground, as something began to squeeze around his chest. It was playing with him.

Rinne heard a strange popping sound.

"Rokudo-kun!"

Rinne tensed up without thinking and began to struggle as the squeeze became more painful, opening his eyes and turning to the sound of Sakura's voice. She stood across from him, her face calmer than it should have been; only her hazel depths betrayed her anxiety. Aside from a cut to her cheek she looked completely unharmed. She held in her hands Rinne's scythe, which must have landed close to her.

She lifted it over her one shoulder and used all her strength to heave it through the dense air. Rinne lifted his unconstricted left arm and managed to catch hold of it. He instantly cut the string of flesh constricting his body. As he dropped the half meter to the ground he realized that he still was being strangled even though the flesh had been severed.

"Cut it twice! You have to cut it once it's been severed for it to be purified!" Sakura hollered. She had seen that the strand he cut just before they were flung had been the severed piece still stirring, and once cut, emitted that familiar purple gleam; though Rinne had been unable to see above him as Sakura fell.

A fractional look of puzzlement crossed his face but in that same fraction of a second he did as she said and dug the tip of weapon into the flesh, watching as it flared up in a brilliant purple gleam.

The dark mass turned attention to the girl, dozen eyes glinting. It swung out one of its limbs towards Sakura. She dove to the ground, narrowly avoiding it, but now allowing Rinne an opening to cut past her into the flesh of the evil spirit, carving it away from the rest of the flesh. For the first time in all of 15 seconds the spirit reverted to the echoing sound of rumbling.

The severed tendril quickly snaked around Sakura's body as she crouched on the ground. Rinne sliced the top off it, the glow surrounding Sakura. He grabbed Sakura's elbow and yanked her to her feet, a little too roughly.

"Are you alright?" he asked watching her from the corner of his eye as he also watched the mass shrink away.

Sakura nodded, but rubbed her shoulder.

He saw this small action and drew his full red gaze down to her. The crimson blood from her cheek had dripped down her chin. He used his sleeve to wipe her blood; blood did not show well against black. She leaned away from his hand but told him thankyou anyway.

"I'm sorry, Sakura Mamiya," he whispered softly as he leaned down closer to her. He looked into her lovely hazel depths. He placed that hand on her arm, "for that too." She stared back at him, and with her eyes told him everything was alright. His scarlet gaze lingered on her face and for a few seconds.

Finally, she smiled softly and shook her head slightly, before directing his attention to the mass of evil once again. He felt embarrassed suddenly; he should have been focusing on the task at hand. He widened his stance into a more sturdy one and focused on what he thought must have been the mass's face. ***1)**

"So," Rinne began. "Will you release the spirits you have swallowed up and pass on peacefully? Or do I have to cut them from you and drag you to the wheel myself?" ***2)**

The rumble that shook the cavern served as his answer. He let go of Sakura, and she nodded, knowing this was easier if both hands were available. If he kept it occupied it would not be able to harm Sakura, and when he was finished here, it would never be able to harm any being ever again.

The red-haired boy charged off, towards the mass, dodging and slicing every wall and limb of grotesque flesh the evil spirit put up as a defense, always making sure to slice the severed chunks as well as the parts still connected. He easily cut the tendril that snaked around his leg. The creature turned away from Rinne and sprung across the cavern crashing with a great noise into the opposite wall. The young girl could tell the evil spirit was beginning to feel cornered; it was avoiding Rokudo rather than confronting him.

It sprung out towards Sakura, but the scarlet-eyed youth had expected this and used this opportunity to slip past the creature's vast limbs and slice a chunk from its main body. The thing halted after that, its limbs swirling around itself, squirming in pain. The detached flesh lay wriggling a few meters away which Rinne quickly despatched with a second slice of his scythe, purple light flowing over his features once again.

The creature again attempted to evade Rinne and his Shinigami scythe, but its pace was slowing with every chunk Rinne cut from it. As it rebounded off the wall Rinne managed to dart in front of it, and as it flew past him - unable to stop itself - Rinne merely held the blade still as the creature ran itself through the scythe, making it into two parts. The two pieces landed on either side of Rinne. He quickly spun in a circle and sliced over the larger of the pieces.

The light seemed somehow brighter to Sakura, and as she squinted into the glow she realized there were balls of light forming from the glow and moving away from where Rinne stood, bathed in the luminescence. The dim blue glow that had filled the cavern was now filled with bright purple orbs of light. She watched the orbs change shape, into awkward stars and further into human forms. '_They're spirits.' _She realized. The glow dissipated, and floating all around the red-eyed youth were dozens of spirits, all dressed in different styles of clothing from different decades. She realized the extent of the creature's evil all suddenly. It made a real impression on her.

The redhead spun his scythe, putting the blade at his feet. The smaller piece of the halved monstrous spirit had moved several meters from him, and it had also begun to change form. Instead of being bathed in purple light as the other orbs had been it was consumed by a truly black light, if that can be imagined. Sakura heard a cracking sound, but it had stopped after just a moment. The blue glow returned.

The heavy air, the thick darkness, seemed to vacate the room all at once. Sakura hadn't realised how tight her chest felt until then, but it felt as if she had finally come to the surface after a very long deep dive. She put a hand against the wall and took in a deep breath. She felt so light.

The evil spirit had backed up to the wall and soon its human features became visible. It- he- was a young man as Yuiko had told, with shoulder length black hair and black eyes. His eyes were strange, Sakura could see from where she stood in the low light that his eyes had nothing in them, the rest of his face showed fear, but his eyes, his soulless eyes… and although he was a spirit, his eyes showed that emptiness. He was not translucent in the least. His face shown the blood from his fatal temporal wound and a phantom blade clattered to his side. He was definitely dead. Long dead from the style of yukata he was dressed in.

"Will you come peacefully yet?" Rinne knew he wouldn't, but he thought it best he not show any more anger the spirit could exploit.

The rage from the spirit was gone in a second as he leapt forth with this phantom blade towards Rinne, and his astral body was cut through and purified. The spirit's form slumped forward, as if he had fallen asleep standing with astral feet on the ground. The spirit's eyes closed softly and he seemed to smile slightly.

Sakura remarked inwardly on how cool Rokudo looked standing there serenely after just battling for the good of those both deceased and living. He face had returned to the lukewarm mask it was normally. He seemed unaffected, as usual (except those rare situations when something good happens with his miniscule finances).

Rinne nodded his head and leaned his scythe on his shoulder. He looked about the room at all of the spirits floating about; all their expressions showed slight fear, but more bewilderment than anything.

/

Sakura was on the phone with the middle Hanasashi sibling, who was surprised to hear it was safe to come to the house, while Rokudo spoke with Yuiko.

"I'll stay here until the last one goes," the little girl smiled.

"Do you see any of your family here?" he asked quietly.

The girl shook her head. She had always known her family would pass on in peace. "Please, tell me Shinigami… What will I return to this world as?"

Rokudo looked hard at the girl. Seeing future lives was something only made strong by continuing bloodlines of Shinigami. It was hard for him to make out. He could see fluttering, as if from a bird's wings. He cringed at a pain in his side, but focused on the fluttering wings.

"Some sort of small bird perhaps a lark… Are you happy with that outcome?"

"Yes. I used to admire birds long ago." Her smile brightened finally.

Rokudo nodded before grouping up the first five who were most willing to be done with this life. He noticed the pain in his side was getting worse, but he didn't wish to show it. He looked over to Sakura, who closed her cell phone, and asked if she would be okay staying here until he was finished.

"I'll be fine," she said sitting on the porch out of the rain, "and Masahiro-kun said he would leave your payment in the weather hutch, and he said if it didn't work he would ruin your reputation. And if he doesn't leave payment you can have a ghost haunt him."

Rokudo raised his eyebrows at that.

/

Rinne hissed in pain. He cursed under his breath. He was angry he had let it get that far. He finally knew what the popping sound had been.

He had first noticed he had a serious problem during the first trip to the wheel. He had decided to take Sakura home right afterwards. He knew the pain would get worse quickly and would rather she not see that.

He was re-wrapping his ribcage with the Ace bandages he had been forced to buy with some of the money the Hanasashi siblings had left for him. Rokumon wanted to help, but after being stabbed by claws several times Rinne decided Rokumon would be more helpful scoring them a free meal in his little box.

There was barely a knock at the door when it opened and Sakura walked on a shirtless Rokudo. Noticing a bare-chested young boy in front of her she quickly put on the brakes then shifted into reverse. "I-I'm sorry I shouldn't have barged in," she began to apologize as she backed out of the room.

"You don't have to leave Sakura Mamiya!" He called out before shrinking back down in pain. He forgot he didn't want her to know he was hurt.

Sakura peeked her head back around the doorframe. She noticed the rolls of bandages next to Rokudo.

"You, got hurt?" She shook off her umbrella outside the door, and stood over him.

Rokudo blushed. He rubbed his eye as a way to try and conceal the color in his face as he mumbled incoherently.

"Huh?" Sakura sat down near him.

He spoke louder, "Yeah, I… I did. I cracked my rib, I'm pretty sure,"

Sakura's concern showed all over her face suddenly. "Seriously? You should see a doctor."

"Naw, Granny will be over soon, I'm sure; somehow word always reaches her."

He wrapped a bandage around his chest, hissing all the while.

"You sure?"

He finished wrapping his chest up. "I'm all finished now I'll be good," he slowly grabbed his shirt and pulled it over his head. "It's not like I was the only one hurt…" he made a gesture towards the band aid on her cheek. "How's that cut healing?"

"Um, Rokudo-kun, it's only been one day. It'll be a while before it heals."

"I'm sorry about that Sakura Mamiya." he had allowed a young girl's face to be marred, and he felt terribly about that.

"What? It's not like it's your fault."

"Yeah, it is, I was the one who allowed you to come, knowing full well you couldn't defend yourself against an evil spirit!" He exclaimed and put his hand on her shoulder shaking her a bit with each word.

He realized his words had come out wrong, and it was then Sakura thought about his words and added her comment, "I am pretty helpless aren't I?"

"Gah… That's not what I meant! I just… meant that… um…"

"Don't lie," she said holding up one finger. She paused suddenly looking as if she were in thought.

"Rokudo… you said once that one can become a Shinigami with training correct? Well maybe I wouldn't become one, but you could still teach me how to defend myself couldn't you?"

"I'd prefer for you to not come along with me when I'm put in dangerous situations."

She shook her head. She looked at him raising her eyebrows. "I'm going to run into ghosts whether you're there or not."

Rinne looked at the floor, then back up to her smiling face. He gasped inwardly when he realized she hadn't flinched since he put a hand on her shoulder, and they were now very close to one another. He put his hand in his lap and leaned away from her, flinching slightly at the pain in his side.

"I… guess that would be a good idea."

Sakura smiled brightly. "Once you're healed then, that will be a good idea."

"That would be a good idea," a voice said behind the pair.

Rinne looked back to see his grandmother standing behind them.

Tamako smiled her usual creepy smile, "You two are so cute."

**THE END**

* * *

Authors notes: FINISHED FINISHED FINISHED! I will never write a multi-chapter again, unless I've pre-written at least half the chapters!

*1) I imagined that scene in Inuyasha the final act when Inuyasha find Kagome in the darkness, oddly enough only while editing after I had finished.

*2) I originally had "or do I have to drag you to Hell myself?" but I figured that it is just a corrupt human, not a demon or anything, and I don't know anything about ANY religions at all.

also Now that I know the definition of "Evanescence" it makes me feel bad about the band. I like the band, they've got a new album coming out in october.

It's not the best, I muct confess, it lost it's steam, peeps went OOC (I could write a song about this). I still have a lot to learn about writing...


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